FBI Releases the Internet Crime Complaint Center 2021 Internet Crime Report

The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) published its 2021 Internet Crime Report. The project draws data from 847,376 complaints of suspected internet crime reported to the FBI. Reports in 2021 represent a 7 percent increase in complaints from the 2020 report with reported losses exceeding $6.9 billion. The top three cyber crimes reported by victims in 2021 were phishing scams, non-payment/non-delivery scams, and personal data breaches. Victims lost the most money to business email compromise scams and investment fraud. The report notes it received just 3,729 complaints about ransomware, a small number compared to what other security researchers are tracking, a small figure likely because the FBI can only list incidents that have been reported to IC3. “In addition to statistics, the IC3’s 2021 Internet Crime Report contains information about the most prevalent internet scams affecting the public and offers guidance for prevention and protection. It also highlights the FBI’s work combatting internet crime, including recent case examples,” according to the FBI. Read the full report at the FBI.